Cairns Masonic Temple is a heritage-listed former

masonic temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

at 8 Minnie Street, Cairns City,

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It was built from 1934 to 1935. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. ...

on 28 August 1998. Masonic duties ceased here after its sale to the Catholic Church in 2017.

History

Completed in 1935, this two-storeyed concrete structure was the third building to be used as a Masonic Temple in Cairns. The first recorded gathering of

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in Cairns was held in December 1885, at

Hides Hotel Hides Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 87 Lake Street, Cairns City, Cairns, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Sydenham Stanley Oxenham and built in 1928 by Michael Thomas Garvey. It is also known as Hides Cairns Hot ...

. The first Masonic Lodge in Cairns, Gregory Lodge No. 50 was constituted in April 1886. By the mid 1920s, there were six Lodges that met in Cairns, in a building in Lake Street. Prior to the destruction of this building by a cyclone in 1927, the Lodges moved to a building adjoining the site of the present Temple. In 1921, at a meeting held in the Cairns Masonic Hall, it was resolved that the representatives of the Gregory Lodge would communicate with the Grand Lodge regarding the establishment of a District Grand Lodge (DGL) of Carpentaria, with headquarters at Cairns. The creation of the DGL of Carpentaria was approved by the Grand Lodge in December 1923, and was subsequently formed in 1924; the Carpentaria district spread from Cardwell to Cape York, and west to Normanton. In 1928, it was recommended that the DGL erect a suitable memorial to the craftsman who sacrificed so much in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and to the peace which followed. The following year, the DGL organised an appeal for individual donations towards the erection of the Memorial Temple. In 1934 it was decided to proceed with the erection of a Memorial Temple adjoining the present Hall at a cost not exceeding . Tenders for the new Masonic Temple were called in August 1934. The architects for the buildings were the north Queensland firm of Hill and Taylor, who had offices in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

and Cairns. Richard Hill and Arthur Taylor established the firm of Hill and Taylor in Cairns in 1927, and in 1931, the firm took over the practice of CV Rees in Townsville. Both Hill and Taylor appear to have been masons. The contractor for the building was CE Steadman, also a mason. The

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

of the building was laid on

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...

in 1934. Reports from the laying of the stone refer to the building as the Masonic Peace Memorial Temple, and the following description was given of the building:

it would pon its completionbe a worthy and fitting monument of the union of Freemasonry and a fitting memorial and tribute to those who sacrificed so much in the Great War. When it was decided to have the foundation stone laid on Armistice Day, he believed that no more fitting day could have been chosen as it was a day symbolising peace and harmony which was an attribute of the Craft

The Temple was constructed during the large-scale interwar redevelopment of Cairns, in which the city centre was virtually rebuilt. The redevelopment was partly a consequence of severe cyclone damage suffered by the city in 1920 and 1927, and also of the developing role of Cairns as an important regional centre in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf Co ...

. The dedication ceremony for the completed Temple was held in October 1935, and was performed by Sir Leslie Wilson,

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

and Masonic Grand Master. The ceremony was a large occasion; attended by about 700 representatives of Lodges in Queensland. A description of the building shortly before the dedication, referred to the imposing facade facing Minnie Street, and the

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

walnut and maple joinery. The attention given to the ventilation of the building was also important, and ducts from the external wall were brought through under a raised platform around the lodge room and the air exhausted by two big fans ensuring a continuous flow of fresh, cool air on even the most humid evenings. A tablet to the memory of WHJ Mayers, the Foundation District Grand Master, was set into the base of the pillar at the left entrance to the temple and unveiled in March 1954. The two large pillars at the entrance to the temple were destroyed/damaged by a cyclone in March 1956. There was considerable damage also to the windows and outbuildings of the temple. New columns are recorded as being completed in 1957, and in accordance with Masonic tradition, were formed hollow and a copy of all records subsequent to the laying of the foundation stone was placed inside one of the pillars.

Description

The Masonic temple, a two-storeyed concrete structure with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

roof concealed behind a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

wall, is located on the northern corner of Grafton Street with the main entry to Minnie Street to the southeast. The building is T-shaped in plan, with the main body of the building consisting of a minimally adorned box with high set steel framed windows. The gable entrance sits proud of the main section, and features a symmetrical facade composed of

classical element Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...

s. The entry consists of a flight of

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

to a recessed door with a cantilevered

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a li ...

. The doorway is surmounted by a tall rendered arch flanked by a Corinthian

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

, supporting a large

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

, to either side. Each column sits on a

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

with a marble plaque. The rendered arch mouldings contain a large keystone and surround a circular window above a row of four small square windows. The parapet has a deep

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

above the words AD GLORIAM DEI, and is crowned with the masonic emblem of the

carpenter's square The steel square is a tool used in carpentry. Carpenters use various tools to lay out structures that are square (that is, built at accurately measured right angles), many of which are made of steel, but the name ''steel square'' refers to a sp ...

and divider. The building has high-level steel framed, multi-paned windows to each side and rear. Entrance doors area also located on either side and at the rear. Internally, the building appears to consist of a large hall with a gallery, with staircases to the first floor at the front and rear. The Minnie Street facade has an iron fence with concrete posts.

Heritage listing

Cairns Masonic Temple was listed on the

on 28 August 1998 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Masonic Temple was completed in 1935, since which time it has served as the headquarters for Freemasonry in far north Queensland. The Temple survives as an illustration of the development of Cairns as an important regional centre during the early twentieth century. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The Masonic Temple has an imposing idiosyncratic facade which makes a strong contribution to the Cairns townscape. The building's facade, scale and form ensures its status as a Cairns landmark.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Cairns Masonic Temple Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Cairns Masonic buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Cairns City, Queensland